February 2, 2021 at 3:36 am
Legality is not the question, love for your fellow humans, their health, and the health of their loved ones is the issue. There is no question I desperately want to learn in person, desperately want to see my friends, and desperately want hugs from people I do not live with, I vehemently disagree that it is time to start having in-person events again.
Event technical content should focus on the Microsoft data platform, however, the Microsoft data platform is significantly more than the on-premises SQL Server relational engine. Personally, I think events should also contain professional development topics that are well outside the data platform technologies.
February 2, 2021 at 4:32 am
Legality is not the question, love for your fellow humans, their health, and the health of their loved ones is the issue. There is no question I desperately want to learn in person, desperately want to see my friends, and desperately want hugs from people I do not live with, I vehemently disagree that it is time to start having in-person events again.
Peter has stated this much better than I would have. Making it "legal" doesn't change the risks of one or two people unknowingly (or worse, knowingly) exposing dozens of people to COVID.
I too miss seeing my friends. It's been 11 months since I've seen my friends here not through a webcam. I want to be sitting in the front row of sessions. I want to be presenting in front of people. Talking to the sponsors between sessions. But I can't put my family's health at risk by going to an event like a SQL Saturday and I'm not in a position where I could self-quarantine for two weeks afterwards. We've had too many close calls with this virus without taking that kind of risk.
As a SQL Saturday organizer, I can't even think of how I would ask my venue about hosting an event in the next 6-9 months. Reading their website tonight, they probably wouldn't even let us into the building. Not to mention the travel restrictions on people (especially sponsors and speakers) coming from out of state. making it that much harder to have the kind of event we're used to.
February 2, 2021 at 9:33 am
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February 2, 2021 at 10:34 am
I don’t believe many of the people discussing in-person events are selfish (or dumb as the word used by another post).
I think they legit want to know if it’s possible to do it safely in 2021. We all miss seeing people in person and share that feeling. Because of this, the reasons for exploring in person events are more about friendship and compassion than selfishness.
That being said, being an organizer puts many of us in the precarious position of actually having to plan a successful event. None of the organizers here (or that I have spoken to) see any reasonable way to do that.
This is not a bad discussion to have and it’s important to separate all of the political vitriol over Covid in the past year from people learning and trying to do good things here.
For context: many people are working in offices and taking part in in-person activities. Mitigating risk in an office or some other highly structured environment is easier than for a conference, which contains a thousand unknowns that we can’t realize ahead of time.
I suspect we will have this discussion again over the summer, at which time things will have changed enough that we can more legitimately plan in-person or hybrid events. We’re not there yet, but I am sure we will all be happier when we are.
February 2, 2021 at 12:53 pm
Our love for one another is shown by our absence from one another during the pandemic, not our presence.
The data is there. the data should help you to make a decision. This is what being data-driven is all about. I'd have thought that the US has had enough deaths to use common sense to make a judgement. Georgia alone has had 888K cases, nearly 14K deaths. In the last day, 3,200 new cases in Georgia.
No. Whether it is 'legal' or not, no. The law is not always correct. The data is telling you that this is not a good idea. While I admire your enthusiasm, I do not want to have to bury any more people because of this virus. What are you all thinking?
Please look after yourselves. There's plenty of time for events in the future once we are past this COVID, or learned to adapt and innovate so that everyone is vaccinated.
February 2, 2021 at 12:56 pm
We've lost at least two #sqlfamily members (Gareth Swanepoel and Kim Tessareau) to this. I've lost 4 family members to it and could not even go home for my Dad's funeral. Lost count of how many others have lost friends or loved ones. Vaccine supply is way, way below demand (where I live it is 10% of demand). There is no clear idea of when it may be safe to gather together. I am somewhat dumbfounded that people actually think government regulations are the green flag they are looking for to make in person events happen. Really?? Even if you consider yourself very healthy and able do remember that you can be a carrier and there are many vulnerable people out there. Even as I write this we heard of a healthy young man on my team who is infected and very sick. In person training is not going to disappear, it is just on hold. SQL Server and other tech will be around for a good amount of time. Consider lives and health of people around you and in community. Hold your needs and show some compassion until things get well and they will.
February 2, 2021 at 2:01 pm
That it might be legal right now in your locality does not magically make it a good idea, nor does it make it possible to plan a thing when you don't know if another variant or infection wave or lockdown is coming tomorrow.
That this discussion is even happening right now feels like a slap in the faces of all the people presently suffering or mourning.
This is a bad idea right now. Full stop.
February 2, 2021 at 4:08 pm
Redgate will be taking a remote-first approach to events in 2021. The health, wellbeing and safety of our customers, community and Redgaters is always our top priority. There’s no doubt that we look forward to connecting with the community at events around the world, but not until the time is right for everyone in the community. That time is unlikely to be within the next 12 months. Stay safe everyone
Cambridge, UK
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/abjbradford
Blog posts: https://www.red-gate.com/blog/author/annabel-bradford
February 2, 2021 at 4:12 pm
Redgate will be taking a remote-first approach to events in 2021. The health, wellbeing and safety of our customers, community and Redgaters is always our top priority. There’s no doubt that we look forward to connecting with the community at events around the world, but not until the time is right for everyone in the community. That time is unlikely to be within the next 12 months. Stay safe everyone
I was never in any doubt. Thank you.
February 2, 2021 at 9:05 pm
I do get the OP, I miss in-person conferences and all the hugs and good conversations as well!
But with the time-frame we as organizers have to plan, the commitment speakers have to enter - and most do this on their own time and expense - this isn't feasible. While one state - might be open now, it can close again before the event is scheduled. With the financial risk that brings, never mind the potential health risk and moral implications for organizers, speakers and sponsors.
This pandemic is in no way over yet, and it's best for everyone if we buckle up and ride it out together.
Lets do the most out of the virtual events we can have for now 🙂
And thank you Annabel for confirming Redgate's stand on the issue as well.
February 4, 2021 at 6:15 pm
Apologies for the delay in responding. Holiday this week.
I am not supporting, neither speaking nor attending, in person events at this time. As has been pointed out before, there are numerous issues and considerations outside of legality to consider. We have seen for nearly a year that gatherings are a risk to health.
Some types of things can be done with acceptable risk, especially given the benefits. School, spots, some work, there are things that can move forward in careful ways.
I welcome the discussion of how we might think about this, or how we might mitigate risks, but at this time, this is not something I feel is prudent, and do not support.
As far as Redgate goes, Annabel has noted that we have no plans to run in-person events this year.
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